Environmental impact of your vehicles - Arval

Directions
Manager April 2007
Minimising the environmental impact of your company vehicle fleet
The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere is at a record
high across the world and company vehicle operators
are under increasing pressure to include environmental
considerations in their management decisions.
One of the pressures put on businesses to reduce
vehicle emissions comes via Benefit in Kind (BIK) tax
imposed on company cars and free private fuel, based
on vehicle CO2 emissions. In addition the extended area
of Congestion Charging in London and proposed
introduction of road tolls all penalise drivers of vehicles
with high CO2 emissions.
Below are some actions you can take to reduce the
environmental impact of your fleet.
1. Assess the current environmental
impact of your fleet
Start by assessing the current carbon footprint of your
fleet based on the overall fuel consumption and set
targets for reducing the amount. Review or develop any
corporate social responsibility or environmental policies
to ensure they consider your fleet. (It is possible to
check the emissions of vehicles using the CO2 emissions
calculator at www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk).
2. Review vehicle choice lists
Encourage a change in driver behaviour by removing
the worst performing vehicles from your fleet by
applying minimum MPG and maximum CO2 limits to
the vehicles on the choice list. Provide information to
drivers on the environmental impact of vehicles as this
will allow them to make informed choices.
Why not incentivise staff to choose cleaner vehicles
by calculating trade down allowances on the basis of
CO2 levels.
Consider fuel type choices – diesel or petrol based on
operating conditions of your fleet. Some employers are
using diesel fleets to cut emissions and increase MPG.
Exemptions apply to some alternative fuel vehicles in
the LCZ and similar discounts are likely to apply in
other proposed road user charging schemes.
3. Reduce fuel consumption
Improving your fleet’s fuel performance is important
for the environment and makes sound commercial
sense as typically fuel costs may account for 20% or
more of the total operating costs.
Driving style has a major impact on fuel efficiency.
Encourage drivers to drive more smoothly with no
aggressive braking or acceleration and by choosing
appropriate gears. Advise drivers to use air conditioning
only when needed as it adds about 15% to fuel
consumption when in use. Drivers should remove
unnecessary weight from vehicles (e.g. roof boxes, golf
clubs and other luggage unnecessarily left in the boot)
and maintain correct tyre pressures.
Efficient route planning can help drivers avoid
congestion (hot spots). Consider providing satellite
navigation as a means to achieve this. Drivers should
be encouraged to allow sufficient time for journeys to
reduce the need for speeding to get to appointments.
The amount of road travel can be further reduced
through the use of teleconferencing, video
conferencing or rail travel.
You may want to offer employees a range of incentives
to car share, e.g. reserving well located parking spaces
in the car park.
www.arval.co.uk WH.12139.03/07

Arval fuel cards can help to reduce route deviation as
they are accepted at the largest network of fuel
stations in the UK including low cost supermarkets. The
Arval reporting system will highlight the fuel
expenditure of all your fleet drivers.
4. Maintain your vehicles
Ensuring vehicles are properly maintained has financial,
health and safety and environmental benefits including
reducing fuel consumption and emission levels.
Regular maintenance and vehicle checks have a
positive influence on fuel use and a well-maintained
engine can improve fuel economy, so manufacturer’s
recommendations on servicing should be followed. The
wrong tyre pressure could reduce tyre life by
approximately 25% and potentially increase fuel
consumption by up to 2.5%.
5. Reduce accidents
Improving employees’ driving techniques can reduce
accidents, maintenance costs such as tyre and brake
wear and vehicle damage recharges. Repairing vehicles
after accidents causes waste, both financially and
environmentally from spare parts, oil, and workshop
resources.
All accidents should be investigated and reviewed with
drivers and driver training should be implemented
where appropriate. Your fleet policy should include a
target for the reduction of accidents.
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6. Review cash allowances
Government research shows that drivers opting out of
company cars typically move to a vehicle with 20g/km
worse CO2 performance. Review the options you offer
for cash allowances and incentivise the choice of
efficient vehicles through ECOS / PCP schemes with
discounts for better performing vehicles or increase /
decrease allowances based on vehicle choice (using CO2
emissions and MPG performance as benchmarks).
7. Monitor performance and
market development
Improving the environmental performance of your fleet
should reduce your costs. Monitor savings, measure
fuel consumption, carbon reduction and accident rate
improvements. Benchmark drivers against key
performance indicators such as mpg, tyre wear and
licence points.
Successful cost reductions should be publicised to
employees, shareholders and as general PR stories and
drivers should be awarded for demonstrating cost
savings or good practice.
Although it is preferential to reduce the amount of
carbon emissions, your company may want to
additionally investigate carbon-trading options.
Emissions can be offset through investment into
forestation, alternative energy projects or other carbon
reduction projects.
Keep a close watch on technological advances in
vehicles such as improved engine efficiency, alternative
fuel development and new vehicle design.
Any updates to your fleet policy designed to improve
your environmental impact should be communicated to
drivers and you should gain signed acceptance of new
policy from them where applicable.
The advantages of making your fleet greener could be
reduced vehicle and fuel costs, increased productivity
and improved company image. Your drivers benefit
from reduced driving hours, and safer driving
techniques and the benefits to the environment are
reduced traffic levels and emissions and safer roads.